We’ve had an explosion of cuteness at the Wild Animal Park in the form of adorable cheetah cubs. Critically endangered, each cheetah cub arrival is cause for celebration—but what do we do with all those spots?

Although these tall, slender cats are familiar to all, not everyone is aware that cheetahs may not be around much longer without some serious help from researchers. The Wild Animal Park set up a cheetah breeding program in the 1970s, and more than 130 cheetahs have been born as a result of this effort.

Amara spent the summer as part of the Zoo's Backstage Pass program.

The first cheetah cub born at the Park this year was Amara. Her story is extra special as her conception was the result of a new bioacoustic program developed by researchers at the San Diego Zoo’s Institute for Conservation Research (see post Calling Cheetahs). Born in February, Amara was hand raised in the Park’s Animal Care Center, much to the delight of our guests, who could see the cub napping in her crib or being bottle-fed by one of her nursery keepers. It was decided that Amara be groomed for life as an ambassador for her species, so the Park’s animal trainers began visiting and bonding with her at the nursery. When she was old enough, Amara moved to the Park’s animal training compound.

Then in May, three cheetahs born at another facility arrived at the Park to be hand raised. Named Shiley, Johari, and Taraji, they were quite the handful for our nursery staff and were barel still long enough to pose for group photos! Soon after, Amara’s mother, Kenya, delivered another singleton cub. As cheetah mothers eventually reject singletons, this newest cub, named Lindewe, was slowly introduced to the older trio for socialization purposes.

These days, Amara, Shiley, and Johari are learning the ropes of being animal ambassadors at the Wild Animal Park, while Taraji is doing the same at the San Diego Zoo. Lindewe has been returned to the Park’s cheetah research station for future participation in the breeding program there. She is joined each night by her former nursery mates, Shiley and Johari, for cheetah-style companionship and playtime.

The youngsters will soon be ambassador pros like veteran Majani.

Mike Burke, a lead animal trainer at the Wild Animal Park, says there is definitely a “cuteness” overload at the training compound with three young cheetahs, as well as veteran cheetah Majani, in residence! They make appearances on television and in our animal shows and encounters at the Park. All of the youngsters are trained to walk on a leash, focus on their trainer, sit, go in and out of a crate, and ride in a cart as part of their varied “ambassador duties.” Mike describes Amara as a confident little fireball of energy, a youngster who is ready for anything that comes her way; Shiley is the most affectionate of the trio and enjoys working with his trainers; and Johari is more reserved, seeming to daydream at times. Mike is proud of their accomplishments so far and sees a bright future ahead for all those spots!

Debbie Andreen is an associate editor for the San Diego Zoo.

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23 Reader Comments

Lee in Vancouver

Posted December 4, 2009 at 3:55 PM

Great article Debbie. Question: Do the Animal Ambassadors ever participate in the breeding program? If not, why were they not selected? The Cheetahs are critically endangered so I would think that all cheetahs would be used for this purpose.

Debbie responds: That’s a great question and I have to do some asking around. Give me a few days!

Nick

Posted December 4, 2009 at 6:18 PM

Hello, this is off topic but I have been researching on the now “wild extinction?” of the northern white rhino and that you hold the only two in North America. Are there any plans to send those rhinos out to be preconditioned to breed as I heard that was to happen to a couple of the last few. Thanks!

Debbie responds: I’ll see what I can find out.

Lainie

Posted December 4, 2009 at 7:24 PM

Thanx so much for sharing your story of the cheetah cubs with us. Big cats are my all time favorite, so I love hearing anything and everything about them. Thanx again Debbie !

Debbie responds: They are so beautiful and majestic, aren’t they? This was a fun story to research!

Lid

Posted December 4, 2009 at 9:46 PM

They are beautiful…it is to cool to be able to train them and stay close to them…amazing..keep up the good work..they are lovely…just sad for them cheetahs in the wild..they really need help

Joy in Kansas

Posted December 5, 2009 at 9:12 AM

Oh I am in love! These cubs are all so cute. Sounds like cheetahs need parenting classes from the pandas.

San Diego Gal

Posted December 5, 2009 at 4:31 PM

I got to meet her yesterday. 🙂 She is such a sweetie! I got some awesome shots of her snuggling with her stuffed fuzzy toy. What a gorgeous girl she is!

Lisa in Colorado

Posted December 6, 2009 at 1:10 PM

Bring on the cuteness! Love their markings. I went back and read about the bioacoustical program. Fascinating! Thanks for all the effort everyone is putting in to help the cheetahs.

Melissa

Posted December 7, 2009 at 7:18 AM

Thanks for sharing more about the cheetahs with us, Debbie! I enjoyed reading about them. The photo of the cheetah trio is beautiful! They are truly captivating! And Amara has a regal bearing about her if her photo is any indication.

I often think of the bioacoustic study that was done and have wondered if it might be successful if applied to other species who are problem breeders in captive environments (giant pandas in zoos, for instance). Would a female panda be more likely to breed with her designated partner if she thought there were other male pandas vying for her attention? Of course Bai Yun and Gao Gao have shown that they have the perfect chemistry with one another, but maybe another zoo might be willing to try the protocol someday.

Thanks again, Debbie!

Debbie responds: That’s an interesting idea, Melissa! I’ll see if our researchers have plans to expand their studies in that regard.

Debbie Andreen

Posted December 7, 2009 at 9:36 AM

#1 Lee in Vancouver
Here’s what I found out: many times animals are chosen to become ambassadors because their genetic lines are already well represented (Majani is a good example of this). And we do know that hand-raised cheetahs often make great ambassadors because of their early familiarization with humans. However, if the AZA’s SSP (Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Special Survival Plan) coordinator determined that an animal is needed for a breeding program, that need takes priority over being an ambassador.

#2 Nick
According to our mammal curator, we do not have any plans to send the two northern white rhinos anywhere at this time.The female is older and most likely would not do well if relocated.

#9 Melissa
I’ve learned that cheetahs are a rather unusual species in that the females are induced ovulators; most mammal species females, including humans, cycle regularly, but the cheetah female requires an acoustic cue prior to ovulation. Researchers are not even certain if there are other mammal species that rely on induced ovulation. There is much yet to learn!

Melissa

Posted December 7, 2009 at 11:51 AM

Thank you, Debbie! I remembered that the female cheetah wasn’t too interested in her partner until she heard the vocalizations of other male cheetahs via the recordings but didn’t put the pieces together with the fact that the audio cues induced ovulation. Drats! I keep hoping there’ll be a way to get panda couples “in the mood” at the same time when the short window of opportunity arises, increasing their chances of mating naturally and helping them overcome inexperience, etc. Back to the drawing board…;)

Lee in Vancouver

Posted December 8, 2009 at 12:17 PM

Thanks, Debbie for the response. The AZA’s SSP list is most important to the saving of the species and that is why animals are moved around. Do you have to stop animals from breeding at times if you can’t move them? This is one way of doing that, by making them ambassadors. It is all making sense to me now.

Debbie responds: The Zoo does indeed use various methods of birth control when needed.

Max

Posted December 9, 2009 at 9:39 PM

Can I take one home for at least a day or so? They are so cute, I wish I could play with one of them….

Debbie responds: Me too!

Brenda in AZ

Posted December 10, 2009 at 6:25 AM

Thank you for the article on my favorite cat. In my opinion, there aren’t enough of them. hehehehe. I saw Amara in the nursery April and it was a wonderful opportunity since I’d never seen a baby cheetah before. On Sunday (12/6) I did Cheetah Run Safari with Kubali (and Bear) and I’m still smiling.

Debbie responds: It is indeed amazing to see a cheetah “in action”! Glad to hear you enjoyed Cheetah Run Safari.

niki

Posted December 16, 2009 at 5:32 PM

i love how cute the cubs !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

San Diego Guy

Posted December 19, 2009 at 10:13 AM

#10 Melissa, I am one who is puzzled by this story because it seems only one cub has been born as a result of the recording, and that was nine months ago. I was anticipating that there would be a surge in births since then. So maybe someone can give us an update of the situation. (The article mentions the previous birth of 130 cubs since the breeding program began in the 1970s, long before the playback technique was used!)

Debbie responds: I’ll see what I can find out.

Kate

Posted January 4, 2010 at 1:23 PM

Love the Cheetahs! I am sad to find out that the Cheetah Run Safari has been taken down. Any idea of when it will be brought back up? We had so hoped to go. Where else can we see the cheetah’s up close?

Debbie responds: Cheetah Run Safari is taking a hiatus as we train our younger cheetahs to step in for Majani. In the meantime, a special program called Cheetah Tales, which is a chat with a cheetah and its trainer, is now offered daily at the Wild Animal Park (2:30 p.m.) near Lion Camp. It is included with Park admission.

Val in Encinitas

Posted January 6, 2010 at 10:09 AM

Great article Debbie. Enjoyed reading the comments as well.

Rebecca

Posted February 1, 2010 at 3:41 PM

I saw Amara when she was in the nursery last year and the again when they moved her to the bigger room on the side of the nursery. I attended the Epurr Curian Dinner this past weekend and was totally amazed when they brought her out during our dessert. She has gotten so big. She is so beautiful. I feel like I have watched her grow up as well as Shiley, Johari, and Taraji. Truely amazing animals!!

Debbie responds: I hope you enjoyed the Epurr Curian dinner with all of the beautiful cat appearances. Thanks for sharing!

Sue

Posted February 11, 2010 at 9:29 AM

My 11 year old son wants to do an independent project for school based on Shirley, Johari and Taraji. He would like to track their growth rates and see how they compare. Would it be possible to receive size and weight data on the three cubs over the last months? If you cannot help me could you please direct me someone who can?

Moderator’s note: Please thank your son for his interest in cheetahs. Unfortunately the information you have requested is not easily accessed in a format we can give you, and we are unable to devote staff time to finding it. May we suggest your student do a similar study using the baby panda’s weights listed in the weekly updates? Here’s the link to the most recent panda weight chart, found at the end of the blog post…

Angel

Posted November 2, 2010 at 5:37 PM

They are so cute ,small,& amazing!!!!!!

Maggie

Posted December 9, 2010 at 2:03 PM

I was looking forward to visiting the Cheetah Run Safari this holiday to see the cheetahs and Kasten the caracal. Since it is currently on hiatus, is there any other opportunity to see Kasten the caracal? Thanks!

Park Animal Staff respond: He gets out every day, but you never know where or when (always between 10:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., unless he has some special event). We suggest you just go to our security desk in the Administration Building as soon as you arrive so that the rangers can radio Behavior Department staff to see when and where he will be out that day. Every once in a great while, he does get a day off, but that isn’t his preference!

Shriram

Posted December 12, 2010 at 12:47 AM

How many cheetahs are there in Sandiego zoo now

Moderator’s note: Between the San Diego Zoo and the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, we have 25 cheetahs.

James

Posted June 3, 2011 at 7:23 PM

What is the name of the two cheetahs in the San Diego Zoo Safari Park?

Moderator’s note: We have several cheetahs at the Safari Park, some on exhibit, some as animal ambassadors, and some in off-exhibit areas. Which two are you referring to?

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